Dead Or Alive

One Week Later

"I want her now Rainbow Dash! No more excuses! Bring her back to me in less than a week or else you're fired!" Princess Luna stomped her hooves against the marble flooring of her study as she paced around Rainbow Dash who had been sitting on her blue couch in front of her desk.

"I'm trying Luna but we've been looking for days and we still haven't found her!" Rainbow Dash looked down at her lap as Luna stopped in front of her.

"Stop sticking up for that pony-"

"I'm not sticking up for her I swear we haven't been able to find her!"

"I said stop sticking up for her! She hurt my sister and nearly killed her in the act! I won't wait any longer Rainbow Dash! Can't you see!? She's not the princess of friendship anymore! She's not the same pony she was years ago and you know it!" Luna pressed her muzzle up against Rainbow's and stared deeply into her eyes.

"I know she's not and that's why I'm not sticking up for her!" Rainbow Dash pressed Luna's muzzle away from her roughly,stare into her eyes as well, but with a look of hatred. "We have been looking and looking and looking day and night! She is no where to be found! We have looked everywhere! The Crystal guards have even been searching for her at the Empire, and we have searched for her in Phillydelphia, Manehatten, Everywhere!" Rainbow Dash yelled back at the princess with a harsh tone followed by a growl.

Luna stepped away from Rainbow Dash and walked back around to her desk. She sat down slowly and put her hooves on her desk roughly.

"Everywhere huh!! If you searched everywhere, than you would have found her by now!!!" Luna yelled at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had not reacted to the way Luna had treated her and turned head head to the side. "Rainbow Dash...look...at...me...Now!"

Rainbow Dash stood up and started walking towards the doorway casually.

"Do you want your role as co-captain or not!?" Luna stood, pressing her hooves up against her desk roughly, causing her papers to jump up slightly. Rainbow Dash turned to her slowly, than started walking back towards Luna. She stood in front of her desk.

"Listen buster. We've looked everywhere, and she is no where to be found. We have searched this castle inside out just like every other place in damn Equestria! So stop yelling at me and try finding her yourself for fucking once! I am sick and tired of you acting as if you're the rightful ruler of Equestria Luna! You aren't and you will never be! Ever! So get off your lazy horse ass and actually do something a rightful ruler would do, and stop treating us like slaves! I don't give a damn about the co-captain role, and I don't give a damn about that smart ass 'Princess' Twilight Sparkle," Rainbow Dash snarled and turned towards the door way. She began to trot outside of the study.

"Wait! Look, I'm sorry, but I need to find her! She hurt my sister and I'm not going to let her hurt anybody else!" Luna walked over to Rainbow Dash slowly as Rainbow stopped in her tracks.

Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, "You're going to need to give me more than a week if you want me to find her,"

"Why would you need more than a week if you'll be going with the rest of the guards?" Luna cocked her head to the side and walked in front of Rainbow Dash.

"You can't send all the guards. We need as many guards as possible to guard you and the castle. The news about Celestia being defeated, and the guard's absence while she was getting attacked has spread all around Equestria. All the bandits there are will find it as a chance to sneak in knowing the royal guards are bad enough to not even get to Celestia when she could clearly be heard yelling for he-"

"What?!" Luna cocked her head back and glared at Rainbow Dash.

"What about what?" Rainbow Dash stepped back from Luna with caution.

"You could hear her?!"

"Uh, yea. So what it's not like we'd be able to get to her on time,"

"If you could hear her why didn't you and the other pegasi guards freaking fly to help her!? Rainbow Dash you were accepted into the Wonderbolts! If you had taken the job you would be one of the fastest fliers in Equestria, and you practically are! And you're telling me you couldn't fly as fast as you possibly could and save my sister!" Luna snarled and stomped one of her front hooves.

"Either way we wouldn't have gotten to her on time!"

"You could absolutely could have saved her! All the guards are a bunch of morons besides you! They freaking stood there and watched her nearly get killed instead of doing anything until after she was hit! At least you're not a complete idiot to just sit and stare! Heck, her horn might have been burnt just a bit less and even that would've helped!"

"Ugh, calm down. Just be happy that you're a freaking alicorn. Alicorns rarely die! Despite the fact that her horn was badly burnt doesn't mean it would kill her! It's just magic it's not like Twilight shot her in the freaking heart!" Rainbow Dash stomped back at Luna.

"But if her horn was near to the point of amputat-"

"What does amputation haft to do with any of this!?"

"If her horn no longer worked what would be the point in keeping it! Alicorns have both magic and the ability to fly! My sister would just have the ability to fly and she wouldn't be able to raise the sun or moon, or protect her kingdom!" Luna spoke with a harsh tone, pressing her muzzle up against Dash's.

"Couldn't you just raise the moon and the sun!? You're a alicorn too you know!" Rainbow Dash said with a concerned voice and stepped away from Luna.

"I'm not the leader of Equestria Dash! I'm one of the leaders! I was taught by Tia how to raise the moon! Raising the moon is the only thing I know how to do! And nobody else in Equestria knows how to raise the sun! If her horn was to be amputated, or if she was to be killed, the land would either be in eternal light, or eternal night depending on when she died or when her horn was amputated!"

Rainbow Dash blankly looked at Luna as if she was over reacting, "You do know she could have just told you how to raise the sun? That's how ninety nine percent of unicorns learn magic! But instead by reading a book.."

Luna looked back at Rainbow Dash as if she was nervous to say anything else, "Y-Yes b-but-" Luna thought for a moment, "But Celestia would no longer be the god of the Sun!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as if the conversation was pointless by then, "You do know that Princess Celestia has been raising both the sun and the moon and you where still the god of the moon logically right?"

"But Tia was the leader of the leaders of Equestria basic-"

"That doesn't even make sense-"

"TIA WAS THE RULER OF EQUESTRIA AND WE WERE JUST HER BACK UP!! HAPPY NOW!!?!?" Luna stomped towards Rainbow Dash and widened her eyes, putting one oddly close to Rainbow Dash's.

"Well, you still haven't said if I was going to go find Twilight on my own so no,"

"Well, well, well....well..I say...-"

"Yes,"

The two turned towards the entrance where Princess Celestia had been standing. Her horn was bandaged up, her coat was awfully dirty, and her mane was visibly un-brushed. "I say yes. Rainbow Dash will go to find Twilight Sparkle on her own and will be given one month to find her,"

Rainbow Dash smiled widely, followed by her tongue sticking out at Luna.

Luna blankly stared at Celestia with what seemed to be no expression.

"Rainbow Dash please, you're in the castle," Celestia looked at Rainbow Dash as she continued to stick her tongue out at Luna.

Rainbow Dash chuckled and stopped, "Heh, sorry princess,"

Celestia smiled, "You know, you sure are awfully playful after what happened with the rest of your friends, including Pinkie Pie,"

Rainbow Dash sighed softly, "I like to keep my sorrow in a bottle,"

Luna chuckled softly, "You do know that's bad for you...right?"

"Who cares it makes me even more emotionally stable which makes me even more awesome cause I'm so damn strong on the inside,"

"Language Ms.Dash," Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes towards Rainbow Dash as Luna attempted to stop herself from laughing.

"Oh, sorry,"

"Anyways, back to business matters. I could hear you guys arguing all the way from my room which you have seemed to forgotten is just down the hallway, so I'll point out, that Princess Twilight's castle is hidden within the Everfree forest after the recent disasters. I highly doubt you and the guards have searched there, being that at least one of you would be missing-"

"We checked there," Rainbow Dash claimed.

"And I say check again. There are many hidden passages in Princess Twilight's castle, most, as usual, are activated by a bookshelf, a statue, or a hidden lever which is pretty much always a torch and it should be obvious cause the supposed fire of the torch will look like cheap plastic and will not be moving, at all. Chances are Twilight will be in one of the hidden passages being that she knows that it's obvious to all of her friends and me. But, Twilight is smart enough to rig up a fake hidden passage, so beware. If you get lost think like Twilight, cause if you get trapped for good, you'll either be trapped their forever till death, or Twilight will come to find you and either use you to help her with her next stunt or worse,"

"Like what?" Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side.

"Death. Rainbow Dash, I am warning you. Twilight is not a moron. She knows I'm sending you out to find her, and she knows you know where she is hiding. I have no doubt that she is setting up booby tra-"

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. She put on hoof on her stomach attempting to keep her balance as Luna and Celestia glared at her for interrupting the 'plan'.

Rainbow Dash looked up at them nervously. She blushed and put her hoof down on the ground.

"Continue.."

Celestia rolled her eyes, "Booby traps. Princess Twilight tends to stay in her study. The more artifacts she learns about the more she steals. If you are not able to capture her, simple learn what artifact she tends to seek and report it back to us. That way, we will be prepared and she will be caught,"

"I'm not sure I can do that on my own. I mean, Twilight's smarter than me. Can't I at least have the elements of harmony help me?" Rainbow Dash sat down on her rump. She playfully tapped her hooves together as Luna smiled softly at her somewhat childish behavior.

"No. Most of the elements aren't stable. Pinkie Pie has been in the hospital for months. Rarity has been driven to insanity after all her idols shunned her for the dresses that Twilight sabotaged. Fluttershy is also somewhat insane after her animals where killed, and she hasn't come out of her cottage in months. As for Applejack, she kinda can't even move so, no. You're the only element stable of basically moving for that matter besides Twilight, but she doesn't count cause she was the one that practically killed all the elements, and without all the elements, she is no longer the element of magic. Just be happy that she hasn't turned you against your element. Loyalty. And being the element of Loyalty, I presume that you will do what we say. If you don't come back in at least a week, we'll send more of the guards out to find you. Now remember, don't encounter poison joke, timber wolves, Chimera, a Cockatrice, a Hydra, a Manticore, or a Cragadile. Now that you know your mission, get your saddlepack which has already been prepared for your trip, get on a train to Ponyville, avoid all contact with other ponies for chances are they'll most likely keep you from finding Twilight faster with all their questions, and find Twilight's castle. After that either bring her back dead or alive, or figure out what she is planing to steal next and report it back to us immediately,"

"Okay..I think I get it, but one question...Why is my saddlepack prepa-" Luna's horn glowed a light blue color as a faint orb of light surrounded Rainbow Dash for a moment as she teleported outside by the castle entrance.

Luna galloped through the hallways with Celestia and walked through the door to the balcony. The two waved to Rainbow Dash as she glared at them for rushing her. Rainbow Dash dusted the dirt off of her saddlepack with her tail and slowly began to fly towards the train station as the two princesses continued to wave goodbye to her.